1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to voice over internet protocol communications. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method and system for utilizing voice over Internet protocols with a loyalty program.
2. Description of the Related Art
There various loyalty rewards programs which provide members a benefit for spending time or money for services of an enterprise. However, most loyalty rewards programs require a multitude of personal information from members, including a mobile phone number, physical mailing address and/or email address of the member. The loyalty rewards program uses this personal information to deliver coupons and offers to the member. The loyalty rewards program also sells the information to third parties. Further, when the member wants to terminate the relationship, the member is dependent on the loyalty rewards program to remove the member's information from their records. It is virtually impossible to completely unwind the relationship once it has been established. Essentially, the member is dependent on the loyalty program to erase the member's personal information from the program.
Elliott et al, U.S. Patent Publication Number 20080095339 for System And Method For Providing Requested Quality Of Service In A Hybrid Network discloses the transfer of information across the internet utilizing telephony routing information and IP address information. Lund, U.S. Patent Publication Number 20110243315 for a Method And System For Providing Computer-Network Related Information About A Calling Party discloses providing caller identification information to a called party's customer premise equipment.
General definitions for terms utilized in the pertinent art are set forth below.
GSM, Global System for Mobile Communications is a second generation digital cellular network.
Code Division Multiple Access (“CDMA”) is a spread spectrum communication system used in second generation and third generation cellular networks, and is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,901,307.
Long Term Evolution (“LTE”) is a next generation communication network.
Interactive voice response (“IVR”) is a telephone technology in which a user uses a phone to interact with a database to acquire information.
Short Message Service (“SMS”) is text messaging communication using a mobile phone or other device to send messages up to 160 characters in length.
Multimedia messaging service (“MMS”) communication is a communication transmitted to and from a mobile phone that includes a multimedia content such as a digital photograph (JPEG), videos, and the like.
A SMS Gateway is used to send text messages with or without a mobile phone, and is used by aggregators to forward text messages to mobile phones.
BLUETOOTH technology is a standard short range radio link that operates in the unlicensed 2.4 gigaHertz band.
Mobile Originated (“MO”) is a text message that is sent from a mobile phone.
Mobile Terminated (“MT”) is a text message that is sent to a mobile phone.
Mobile App is an application program resident on a mobile device.
Public Switch Telephone Network (“PSTN”) is a telecommunication system in which networks are inter-connected to allow telephones to communicate with each other throughout the world.
Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) of 1991 restricts the use of SMS text messages received by mobile phones, and SMS messages sent without a consumer's consent can violate the TCPA.
APP is a software application for a mobile phone such as a smart phone.
Hypertext Transfer Protocol (“HTTP”) is a set of conventions for controlling the transfer of information via the Internet from a web server computer to a client computer, and also from a client computer to a web server.
Internet is the worldwide, decentralized totality of server computers and data-transmission paths which can supply information to a connected and browser-equipped client computer, and can receive and forward information entered from the client computer.
FTP or File Transfer Protocol is a protocol for moving files over the Internet from one computer to another.
Short message peer-to-peer (“SMPP”) is a telecommunications protocol for exchanging SMS messages between SMS peer entities.
Simple object access protocol (“SOAP”) is a computer network protocol for exchanging information.
Simple mail transfer protocol (“SMTP”) is a delivery protocol for email.
Transfer Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (“TCP/IP”) is a protocol for moving files over the Internet.
A SMS aggregator is an entity that provides connectivity with a mobile phone carrier by offering a SMS gateway to send and receive messages and other digital content.
Application Programming Interface (API) is a collection of computer software code, usually a set of class definitions, that can perform a set of related complex tasks, but has a limited set of controls that may be manipulated by other software-code entities. The set of controls is deliberately limited for the sake of clarity and ease of use, so that programmers do not have to work with the detail contained within the given API itself.
Direct Inward Dialing (“DID”) involves a carrier providing one or more trunk lines to a customer for connection to the customer's private branch exchange (“PBX”) and a range of telephone lines are allocated to this line.
Voice over Internet Protocol (“VoIP”) relates to voice communications (e.g. telephone calls) transmitted over the Internet such as SKYPE call.
URL or Uniform Resource Locator is an address on the World Wide Web.
User Interface or UI is the junction between a user and a computer program. An interface is a set of commands or menus through which a user communicates with a program. A command driven interface is one in which the user enter commands. A menu-driven interface is one in which the user selects command choices from various menus displayed on the screen.
Web-Browser is a complex software program, resident in a client computer, that is capable of loading and displaying text and images and exhibiting behaviors as encoded in HTML (HyperText Markup Language) from the Internet, and also from the client computer's memory. Major browsers include MICROSOFT INTERNET EXPLORER, NETSCAPE, APPLE SAFARI, MOZILLA FIREFOX, and OPERA.
Web-Server is a computer able to simultaneously manage many Internet information-exchange processes at the same time. Normally, server computers are more powerful than client computers, and are administratively and/or geographically centralized. An interactive-form information-collection process generally is controlled from a server computer, to which the sponsor of the process has access.
CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is a widely-implemented strategy for managing a company's interactions with customers, clients and sales prospects. CRM involves using technology to organize, automate, and synchronize business processes and the like—principally sales activities, but also business processes and the like for marketing, customer service and technical support.
Wireless Application Protocol (“WAP”) is an open, global specification that empowers users with mobile wireless communication devices (such as mobile phones) to easily access data and to interact with Websites over the Internet through such mobile wireless communication device. WAP works with most wireless communication networks such as CDPD, CDMA, GSM, PDC, PHS, TDMA, FLEX, reflex, iDEN, TETRA, DECT, DataTAC, Mobitex and GRPS. WAP can be built on most operating systems including PalmOS, WINDOWS, CE, FLEXOS, OS/9, JavaOS and others.
WAP Push is defined as an encoded WAP content message delivered (pushed) to a mobile communication device which includes a link to a WAP address.
There is a need for a loyalty program in which a member can control the information provided to the loyalty program while still being rewarded for the member's total value to the loyalty program. For example, even if a member never provides a mobile phone number, the number will be revealed through caller-ID if that member calls the loyalty program for loyalty program services. After the first call, the loyalty program will be aware that the number should be associated with the member. Thus, there is a need for a member to control and if necessary prevent access to the member's mobile phone number, while still receiving the level of service equal to the member's total value to the loyalty program. Further, there is a need for loyalty program that has little or no personal information from the member, and when the relationship is terminated, the loyalty program no longer has the member's personal information.